You Would Do It Too, on Apple TV+

Experts say eye-witness testimony is the least reliable form of criminal evidence. The Barcelona cops would concur. They have six witnesses who are perversely uncooperative. They assumed the six agreed to a “code of silence” to protect a vigilante out of gratitude. Little by little, their collective story keeps changing, in increasingly sinister ways in creator-writers David Victori & Jordi Vallejo’s eight episode You Would Do It Too, which is now streaming on Apple TV+.

Nine passengers and a driver were on an express bus leaving the airport. Three hijackers took over assumed control, forcing the other passengers and drivers to transfer their bank balances to an untraceable offshore account (after taking out quick high-interest online payday loans) and then threatened to hunt down everyone in their contact lists if they ever told the police. However, a hooded man in the back disarmed one hijacker, fatally shooting all three, before running off into the woods. That is the initial story, but it will change.

At first, the six witnesses steadfastly refuse to identify the hooded vigilante, stonewalling Det. Fran Garza. His boss, Chief Victoria Jordan, makes his task even more awkward by temporarily elevating his ex, uniformed officer Rebeca Quiro, to act as his partner. However, a pair of hunters eventually ID Dante Bazan from his old mugshot. The suspect has a violet criminal history. Yet, according to his former lawyer, Bazan was more of a victim of the legal system rather than a hardened criminal.

Her words only further enflame social media, which had already embraced the “vigilante” as a folk hero. Consequently, Jordan needs Bazan caught and convicted as quickly as possible. As far as she is concerned. he is the killing and that’s the end of it. However, Garza always had his doubts, which are confirmed by a new witness: the getaway driver, who abandoned his accomplices once shots were fired.

You Would Do It Too is a terrible, but the writing of Victori & Vallejo is wickedly clever. This is definitely a thriller in the tradition of The Usual Suspects, in which a web of lies is untangled as the characters’ secrets are patiently revealed. Viewers might guess the nature of the big twists, but they are unlikely to anticipate all the particulars. Every time Victori (who also directed all eight episodes) takes viewers back to that fateful bus, the stakes rise and the plot thickens quite palpably.

All six witnesses and/or suspects do terrific work keeping viewers off balance. Michelle Jenner is especially intense as Elisa Pena, an Antifa-like cam model with anger management issues. Conversely, Pilar Berges is a woeful mess as the basket-case pothead, Miren Lujan. Elena Irureta is so genuinely sympathetic as the grandmother, Marga Sarabia, it really seems profoundly unfair she was caught up in this mess. However, Xavi Saez inspires that exact opposite feelings as bitter, obnoxious Jandro Pineda, who is so angry at life, he constantly stirs up trouble.

Paulo Molinero is also terrific seething and brooding as Garza. On the other hand, Ana Polvorosa (from La Fortuna) seems inconsistent, even erratic, portraying Quiros, who frequently over-reacts with excess outrage, but also makes some extremely cold and calculated decisions. It seems like her only productive purpose is giving Garza a hard time. However, both Ana Wagener and Mirela Balic are unswervingly and entertainingly Machiavellian as Chief Jordan and click-bait “journalist” Leyre Palacios.

Indeed, nobody gets through You Would Do It Too unscathed—not the cops or the media, but the criminal classes are the worst. Periodically, Victori and Vallejo remind viewers just how cruelly the bus heist targeted regular working people, leaving them financially ruined. Indeed, the clever symmetry of the show’s eleventh-hour karma might be its most satisfying aspect.

There are a lot of twists and turns, but ultimately, everything that transpires makes sense. The writing is so smart, it would not be surprising to see an English remake, but some of the edge would likely get lost in the translation (not necessarily of language, but to a Los Angeles world view). Very highly recommended, You Would Do It Too is now streaming on Apple TV+.